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Description of(2) MENTAL STATES
MENTAL STATES. In the strictest sense mental states cannot be de¬scribed. Unless similar states have been experienced by the mind addressed, they can be communicated only by indirect means, and even then with doubtful pre¬cision. The modes of communicating states of mind are two : (1) by the mental vocabulary ; and (2) by va¬rious associations. In the expression "mental states" we include only the subjective modes of consciousness, and not the consciousness of external objects. 1. The Mental Vocabulary. The words used to designate states of feeling and the various powers of the mind are not in any true sense descriptive. They are symbolical signs associated with certain phenomena which they serve rudely to in¬dicate. The chances of mistake in their interpretation are, therefore, very great. Hence the difficulty and seeming vagueness of metaphysical systems. Several peculiarities of the mental vocabulary need 'special attention. (1) Metaphorical Character.—All the radical ele¬ments of language are significant of purely physical substances, qualities, acts, and relations. Such words as perception, imagination and feeling are derived from radicals primarily significant of material things. If we forget the metaphorical character of all higher speech, we shall be continually led into the error of supposing that there is an essential likeness between mental processes and physical acts. That there is an analogy there can be no doubt, and in some instances, possibly, a direct resemblance. But we are not at liberty to suppose that mental and physical phe¬nomena correspond throughout. (2) IasiLakonia—From this want of correspond¬ence between internal states and external phenomena, the language of the mind is often indefinite. When we speak of a mountain, a river, or a tree, distinct' notions rise in the mind ; but when we speak of love, joy, anger, and other states of feeling, an apprehension of what is meant implies a personal experience of these states. The indefiniteness of language is increased by the individual modification to which all these states are subject. Thus love may mean widely different things to different persons, according to their temperament and extent of experience. Joy, too, may be either a calm, tranquil quiescence, or a tumultuous delight. Anger may mean to one a petty irritation, to another, a righteous indignation in which the whole moral nature is profoundly agitated. (8) Subjective Besult.—The effect of language de¬scriptive of the feelings upon the mind addressed, therefore, depends upon an infinite number of incal¬culable circumstances. The attempt to communicate the feelings and other complex mental states by the ordinary vocabulary of the mind, is almost certain to prove unsuccessful. The simpler and more common states of feeling may be thus reproduced in another or tolerably well suggested by the use of their proper names ; but as soon as the phenomenon becomes ex¬ceptional, as in the finer shades of emotion, the exact communication of it in this way becomes almost possible. 2. Various Associations. What cannot be done successfully by the ordinary vocabulary may often le easily accomplished by vaH¬ous concomitants. Some of these may be noticed. (1) External Expreeelon.—There is a natural lan¬guage of the body which is universal among men, and founded on laws of muscular and nervous action. The leading emotions of the mind have their characteristic modes of expression in the tones of the voice, the color of the face, and the gesticulations of the body. Love, joy, anger, pain, and pleasure, bave each an external sign which is seldom mistaken. In describing the feelings, this language may be joined with the proper mental vocabulary to enforce expression. A descrip¬tion of the external accompaniment of an emotion is often the best possible description of the emotion iteelL (2) Aetione.—Closely allied to the bodily expres¬sion, is the conduct produced by mental states. The habits of men are regulated by their feelings. The worship of art or literature springs from a devotion of soul which none but devotees can fully comprehend by any direct description ; but all form some notion of the intensity of this feeling when the humiliation, pain, and depression endured for its sake are minutely de¬scribed. In one of his tales, Crabbe very successfully describes the state of an unfortunate girl by naming her favorite occupations. The question, how must one feel to select these pursuits? leads the inquirer with great exactness to the proper state of mind. (3) Surroundings.—The surroundings have much to do with our feelings. We are impressed by the scenery, the companionship, and the probable occur¬rences. It may, therefore, assist the communication of a feeling, to describe the circumstances in which it was produced, and then more directly state the char¬acter of the feeling. The external features of the oc¬casion will thus assist the interpretation of what might otherwise be obscure. • (4) Cat:UM—Since human nature is governed by general laws, men of like dispositions are apt to feel the same from the same causes. Very often the most satisfactory way to communicate an emotion is to state the causes of it. When the emotion is unusually com¬plex, this is often the only way in which the feeling can be communicated. The various dispositions of men render this mode somewhat uncertain, since the same causes produce different effects in different per sons.